[Above:  Mr Ali Babacan, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey, at an earlier Turkey-Singapore Business Forum 2012 in Singapore.]

SINGAPORE - Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Minister of State Lee Yi Shyan will be joining a 27-person delegation to Istanbul for the official opening of International Enterprise (IE) Singapore's 36th Overseas Centre on May 30.

With the centre's opening, the government agency for external economy hopes to better engage the Turkey market by aiding partnership opportunities and helping Singapore companies expand into the region.

The ministers will be joined by representatives from 22 locally based companies who will also be going to Turkey to explore business opportunities in an initiative led by IE Singapore and the Singapore Business Federation (SBF).

The 27 people will represent a variety of industries on the six-day trip, which starts from today. Some of the sectors represented include urban solutions, energy, infocomm technology, financial services, automotive, commodities, trading, port management and logistics.

Representatives will also take part in the Turkey-Singapore Business Forum, which will feature DPM Tharman and Turkey DPM Ali Babacan among the speakers.

Held on the same day as the official opening of IE Singapore's Overseas Centre, the forum will allow Singapore representatives to explore and discuss business opportunities with key Turkish officials and businessmen.

Bilateral trade between Singapore and Turkey doubled last year, with trade amounting to a total value of $2.21 billion. Singapore is a major importer of Turkey's manufactured goods and refined petroleum products, and is the country's second largest export destination in the Asia Pacific.